An approach to visual pattern recognition by neural network system

In this paper, a visual pattern recognition system is proposed, which can recognize both a pattern and its location. This system, referred to as the expanded neocognitron, has the following capabilities: (1) A higher performance in extraction of features, and (2) A new capability for recognizing the locations of patterns. This system adopts the learning and recognizing mechanism of the neocognitron. First, the ability to classify pattern is enhanced by improving the mechanisms of feature extraction and learning algorithm. Second, the function of detecting the location of each pattern is realized by developing an architecture which does not reduce structure, i.e., the unit density is constant all the way from the input stage to the output stage.